CHAPTER XVIII

_Departure from Parimau—Parting Gifts—Mock Lamentation—Rawling explores Kamura River—Start for the Wania—Lose the Propeller—A Perilous Anchorage—Unpleasant Night—Leave the Motor Boat—Village of Nimé—Arrival of “Zwaan” with Dayaks—Their Departure—Waiting for the Ship—Taking Leave of the People of Wakatimi—Sail from New Guinea—Ké Islands—Banda—Hospitality of the Netherlands Government—Lieutenant Cramer—Sumbawa—Bali—Return to Singapore and England—One or two Reflexions_ 246

APPENDIX A

_Notes on the Birds collected by the B.O.U Expedition to Dutch New Guinea. By W. R. Ogilvie-Grant_ 263

APPENDIX B

_The Pygmy Question. By Dr. A. C. Haddon, F.R.S._ 303

APPENDIX C

_Notes on Languages in the East of Netherlands New Guinea. By Sidney H. Ray, M.A._ 322

INDEX 347

LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS

(_Except where it is otherwise stated, the illustrations are from photographs by the Author._)

A TAPIRO PYGMY _Frontispiece_

FACING PAGE

NEAR THE MOUTH OF THE MIMIKA RIVER 4

A CONVICT COOLY OF THE DUTCH ESCORT 12

A MALAY COOLY FROM BUTON 12

DOBO, ARU ISLANDS 20

CAMP OF THE EXPEDITION AT WAKATIMI (Photo by C. G. RAWLING and E. S. MARSHALL) 48

A HOUSE FOR CEREMONIES, MIMIKA (Photo by C. G. RAWLING and E. S. MARSHALL) 48

MAKING CANOES 50

CANOES, FINISHED AND UNFINISHED 54

MAKING “ATAP” FOR ROOFING 60

PAPUAN WOMAN CANOEING UP THE MIMIKA 64

JANGBIR AND HERKAJIT, (Photo by C. G. RAWLING and E. S. MARSHALL) 68

HAULING CANOES UP THE MIMIKA 70

TYPICAL PAPUANS OF MIMIKA 74

UPPER WATERS OF THE KAPARE RIVER 82

VEGETATION ON THE BANKS OF THE KAPARE RIVER 86

PAPUAN WOMAN CARRYING WOODEN BOWL OF SAGO 90

PAPUAN HOUSES ON THE MIMIKA 96

PAPUAN OF THE MIMIKA 100

PAPUAN OF THE MIMIKA 100

A PAPUAN MOTHER AND CHILD 106

CICATRIZATION (Photo by C. G. RAWLING and E. S. MARSHALL) 112

PAPUAN WITH FACE WHITENED WITH SAGO POWDER 112

WOMEN OF WAKATIMI 114

PAPUAN WOMAN AND CHILD 120

A PAPUAN OF MIMIKA 128

A PAPUAN OF MIMIKA 134

DISPOSAL OF THE DEAD: A COFFIN ON TRESTLES 139

SPLITTING WOOD WITH STONE AXE, (Photo by C. G. RAWLING and E. S. MARSHALL) 148

A TRIBUTARY STREAM OF THE KAPARE RIVER 159

TYPICAL JUNGLE, MIMIKA RIVER 178

AT THE EDGE OF THE JUNGLE 182

CAMP OF THE EXPEDITION AT PARIMAU 184

THE CAMP AT PARIMAU: A PRECAUTION AGAINST FLOODS 188

THE MIMIKA AT PARIMAU: LOW WATER 190

THE SAME IN FLOOD 190

A TAPIRO PYGMY 196

MAKING FIRE (1) 200

MAKING FIRE (2) 202

WAMBERI MERBIRI 204

A HOUSE OF THE TAPIRO 206

MOUNT TAPIRO FROM THE VILLAGE OF THE PYGMIES 208

TYPES OF TAPIRO PYGMIES 212

A PAPUAN WITH TWO TAPIRO 216

NATIVES OF MERAUKE 226

LOOKING UP THE MIMIKA FROM PARIMAU 232

BRIDGE MADE BY THE EXPEDITION ACROSS THE IWAKA RIVER 234

LOOKING WEST FROM ABOVE THE IWAKA (Photo by C. H. B. GRANT) 238

COCKSCOMB MOUNTAIN SEEN FROM MT. GODMAN (Photo by C. G. RAWLING and E. S. MARSHALL) 238

SUPPORTS OF A PANDANUS 242

BUTTRESSED TREES 246

SCREW PINES (PANDANUS) 250

AT SUMBAWA PESAR 252

NEAR BULELING 256

COLOURED ILLUSTRATIONS

(_from Drawings by G. C. Shortridge_)

CARVED WOODEN CLUBS AND STONE CLUBS 36

HEAD-DRESSES, WORN AT CEREMONIES 78

STONE AXE, HEAD-RESTS AND DRUMS 142

BLADES OF PADDLES, AND BAMBOO PENIS-CASES 144

BOW, ARROWS AND SPEARS 150

ORNAMENTS OF PAPUANS 222

MAPS

A LANGUAGE MAP OF NETHERLANDS NEW GUINEA 342

MAP OF THE DISTRICT VISITED BY THE EXPEDITION _at End_

INTRODUCTION

The wonderful fauna of New Guinea, especially the marvellous forms of Bird- and Insect-life to be found there, have long attracted the attention of naturalists in all parts of the world. The exploration of this vast island during recent years has brought to light many extraordinary and hitherto unknown forms, more particularly new Birds of Paradise and Gardener Bower-Birds; but until recently the central portion was still entirely unexplored, though no part of the globe promised to yield such an abundance of zoological treasures to those prepared to face the difficulties of penetrating to the great ranges of the interior.

The B.O.U. Expedition, of which the present work is the official record, originated in the following manner. For many years past I had been trying to organise an exploration of the Snow Mountains, but the reported hostility of the natives in the southern part of Dutch New Guinea and the risks attending such an undertaking, rendered the chances of success too small to justify the attempt.

It was in 1907 that Mr. Walter Goodfellow, well-known as an experienced traveller and an accomplished naturalist, informed me that he believed a properly equipped expedition might meet with success, and I entered into an arrangement with him to lead a small zoological expedition to explore the Snow Mountains. It so happened, however, that by the time our arrangements had been completed in December, 1908, the members of the British Ornithologists’ Union, founded in 1858, were celebrating their Jubilee, and it seemed fitting that they should mark so memorable an occasion by undertaking some great zoological exploration. I therefore laid my scheme for exploring the Snow Mountains before the meeting, and suggested that it should be known as the Jubilee Expedition of the B.O.U., a proposal which was received with enthusiasm. A Committee was formed, consisting of Mr. F. du Cane Godman, F.R.S. (President of the B.O.U.), Dr. P. L. Sclater, F.R.S. (Editor of the _Ibis_), Mr. E. G. B. Meade-Waldo, Mr. W. R. Ogilvie-Grant (Secretary), and Mr. C. E. Fagan (Treasurer). At the request of the Royal Geographical Society it was decided that their interests should also be represented, and that a surveyor and an assistant-surveyor, to be selected by the Committee, should be added, the Society undertaking to contribute funds for that purpose. The expedition thus became a much larger one than had been originally contemplated and included:—

Mr. Walter Goodfellow (Leader),

Mr. Wilfred Stalker and Mr. Guy C. Shortridge (Collectors of Mammals, Birds, Reptiles, etc.),

Mr. A. F. R. Wollaston (Medical Officer to the Expedition, Entomologist, and Botanist),

Capt. C. G. Rawling, C.I.E. (Surveyor),

Dr. Eric Marshall (Assistant-Surveyor and Surgeon).

To meet the cost of keeping such an expedition in the field for at least a year it was necessary to raise a large sum of money, and this I was eventually able to do, thanks chiefly to a liberal grant from His Majesty’s Government, and to the generosity of a number of private subscribers, many of whom were members of the B.O.U. The total sum raised amounted to over £9000, and though it is impossible to give here the names of all those who contributed, I would especially mention the following:—

S. G. Asher, E. J. Brook, J. Stewart Clark, Col. Stephenson Clarke, Sir Jeremiah Colman, H. J. Elwes, F. du Cane Godman, Sir Edward Grey, J. H. Gurney, Sir William Ingram, Lord Iveagh, Mrs. Charles Jenkinson, E. J. Johnstone, Campbell D. Mackellar, G. A. Macmillan, Mrs. H. A. Powell, H. C. Robinson, Lord Rothschild, Hon. L. Walter Rothschild, Hon. N. Charles Rothschild, Baron and Baroness James A. de Rothschild, P. L. Sclater, P. K. Stothert, Oldfield Thomas, E. G. B. Meade-Waldo, Rowland Ward, The Proprietors of _Country Life_, The Royal Society, The Royal Geographical Society, The Zoological Society of London.

The organization and equipment of this large expedition caused considerable delay and it was not until September, 1909, that the members sailed from England for the East. Meanwhile the necessary steps were taken to obtain the consent of the Netherlands Government to allow the proposed expedition to travel in Dutch New Guinea and to carry out the scheme of exploration. Not only was this permission granted, thanks to the kindly help of Sir Edward Grey and the British Minister at the Hague, but the Government of Holland showed itself animated with such readiness to assist the expedition that it supplied not only an armed guard at its own expense, but placed a gunboat at the disposal of the Committee to convey the party from Batavia to New Guinea.

On behalf of the Committee I would again take this opportunity of publicly expressing their most grateful thanks to the Netherlands Government for these and many other substantial acts of kindness, which were shown to the members of the expedition. The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company did all in their power to further the interests of the expedition, and to them the Committee is very specially indebted. To the proprietors of _Country Life_ the thanks of the Committee are also due for the interest and sympathy they have displayed towards the expedition and for the assistance they have given in helping to raise funds to carry on the work in the field.

In various numbers of _Country Life_, issued between the 16th of April, 1910, and the 20th of May, 1911, a series of ten articles will be found in which I contributed a general account of New Guinea, and mentioned some of the more important discoveries made by the members of the expedition during their attempts to penetrate to the Snow Mountains.

In Appendix A to the present volume will be found a general account of the ornithological results. A detailed report will appear elsewhere, as also, it is hoped, a complete account of the zoological work done by the expedition.

As the reader will learn from Mr. Wollaston’s book, the great physical difficulties of this unexplored part of New Guinea and other unforeseen circumstances rendered the work of the B.O.U. Expedition quite exceptionally arduous; and if the results of their exploration are not all that had been hoped, it must be remembered that they did all that was humanly possible to carry out the dangerous task with which they had been entrusted. Their work has added vastly to our knowledge of this part of New Guinea, and though little collecting was done above 4000 feet, quite a number of new, and, in many cases, remarkably interesting forms were obtained.

There can be no doubt that when the higher ranges between 5000 and 10,000 feet are explored, many other novelties will be discovered and for this reason it has been thought advisable to postpone the publication of the scientific results of the B.O.U. Expedition until such time as the second expedition under Mr. Wollaston has returned in 1913.

The death of Mr. Wilfred Stalker at a very early period of the expedition was a sad misfortune and his services could ill be spared; his place was, however, very ably filled by Mr. Claude H. B. Grant, who arrived in New Guinea some six months later.

As all those who have served on committees must know, most of the work falls on one or two individuals, and I should like here to express the thanks which we owe to our Treasurer, Mr. C. E. Fagan, for the admirable way in which he has carried out his very difficult task.

W. R. OGILVIE-GRANT.

PYGMIES AND PAPUANS

PYGMIES AND PAPUANS